Description

Bubble Bash! is a modern take on the Bust-a-Move concept with a tropical setting. The playing field consists of several bubbles of different colours. Usually, the aim of the game is to remove all bubbles by linking three bubbles of the same colour to destroy them. You either only have a limited amount of time, or have to prevent the packs of bubbles from reaching the bottom of the screen. Bubbles are launched by the teamwork of three characters. Crab holds the bubble and the other two, Kale and Malia, place it on a pedestal and swing it into the field with a stick.

The game improves on the concept with the addition of balloons. Instead of a fixed rectangular playing field, there are different floating sections of bubbles held up by a balloon. Certain game types require you to hit the balloon or you can wait until two sections approach each other to launch a bubble in between and cause a chain reaction. Advanced strategies require you to launch bubbles against the bouncing sides of the field, or you can link bubbles near the top of the pack to drag along the ones underneath with the explosion. There are also birds flying by. These can be hit, but they also return all bubbles shot into the void to randomly insert them in the field. The direction of the bubbles you launch is shown by a small guiding line.

Next to the regular bubbles, there are (super) bomb bubbles (destroys everything it touches), mine bubbles (explodes when hit by another bubble), chameleon bubbles (takes the same colour as the bubbles it comes in contact with), colour bomb bubbles (when hit, it destroys all bubbles of a specific colour), ice bomb bubbles (freezes every bubble it hits), wave bubbles (destroys all bubbles on the same row), balloon inflate/deflate bubbles (lowers or rises the balloons), hidden bubbles (they only show their colour when hit), gift bubbles (releases a collectible item when destroyed), flower bubbles (creates a flower of bubbles of an identical colour), move bubbles, switch bubbles and solid or semi-solid bubbles that are hard to remove.

The main aim of the game is to help Kale and Malia discover treasure on Bubble Island. By completing sections of the island, you collect pieces of a map. Each section consists of three progressively unlocked tiers of games. After finishing the first two tiers with five games each, a boss level becomes available. The different variations require you to release balloons as fast as possible, burst all bubbles while the characters' platform rises near the top of the screen, clear a screen of bubbles hidden every few seconds, or shoot passing birds holding balloons. New levels and outfits for the characters are unlocked by completing games and gathering collectible items. There is a tutorial explaining the basics and the Crab Fever mode to keep playing a single game until you are bust. The game's theme song is a digitized version of Nena's 99 Luftballons.